How to Write When You Don’t Want to Write
Step 1: Complain. Step 2: Keep complaining. Step 3: Accidentally write something decent.
Like every other week, I had delayed writing my newsletter this week, too.
Ignoring the task on my calendar on both Thursday and Friday, I woke up this morning, Saturday, with “write the newsletter” in bold, standing tall as the only task on my checklist.
I usually wake up at 7 these days. The sun wakes me up, the transparent windows in my house, without any curtains, let it in unfiltered.
Today, when I woke up and found the house devoid of sunlight, I guessed it must be 6 a.m.
Perhaps the sun is yet to shine from the opposite mountain, I smirked, proud of my impressive outdoorsy instincts.
My eyes opened wide when I saw the time: 9:30 a.m.
The clouds had taken over the sunlight today. The dancing trees outside made it clear that it was going to be a day of cold winds and rain.
The sun wasn’t as reliable an alarm as I had hoped.
On other days, by 9:30, I would’ve already had my silent time, drunk two bottles of water, done some aimless staring at the trees, had my smoothie, done more aimless staring at the trees, and then had my coffee — before my body would’ve turned into a urinating engine for the next two hours to offset the insane amount of liquid I subject it to every morning.
I dragged myself to the kitchen for water (and some more), and then my smoothie, for which I religiously soak a lot of dry fruits and nuts the previous night.
With my elixir in hand, I found myself on the couch, mentally circling the only task of the day.
Newsletter day.
What do I write about?
Although I postpone writing my newsletter to Saturday every week, not a day goes by without me thinking about what I could write.
My mind opened up its mental notebook to review some topics:
– On slowness (not on a day which is already so slow)
– On parents and their toxic love (not on a lazy, rainy day like this)
– On the adventurous, ambitious hike I did last Sunday (on a day when I don’t want to move out of the comfy sofa? Naaaah)
– Love? (NO)
– Health? (NO)
– April in Bir? (NOOOOO)
Cancelling every idea I had collected throughout the week, I sat back and stared at the gloomy weather outside, challenging myself to write something original, donning the attire of an artist who draws inspiration from nature.
Throughout the week, I wear the hat of a writer - a creative individual with the cosmic power to string beautiful experiences into words.
From Sunday to Friday, my ego bubble inflates just enough for me to fly higher than the paragliders here in Bir, after telling people that I’m a writer.
Creativity and creative pursuits do sound sexy.
But a gentle needle pricks that bubble every Saturday morning. And unlike the smooth landings of paragliders, I find myself smacking into the hard truth — that I have to write another newsletter.
Some weeks, I’m armed with ideas and long stories to back them.
But even on those days, the labour of writing everything down with honesty, vulnerability, and maybe some wit - is no joke. Writing keeps me grounded.
It is far from the romanticism that surrounds it.
Other times, like today, I may have ideas but feel too enamoured by the lazy, gloomy weather. I loiter around the house alone, finding every possible excuse to avoid facing the blank “New Post” tab on Substack.
Writing is as labour-intensive as it can be.
And while a rainy day may serve as inspiration for some artists, for me, it’s a loud cry for sleep and slowness.
But still, I wrote.
Not because I had to, but because I want to keep showing up,
One Saturday at a time.
Thank you for reading.
I send you cool winds, rain, and blossoming green trees from the mountains.
I invite you to reflect and write on the following prompt:
Write about a small, almost invisible ritual in your daily life that gives
you a sense of meaning or comfort, even when everything else feels uncertain..
As a feature of all my newsletters, I share one song, one book, one plant-based meal, one film/video that inspired me, and some photographic updates from my life.
Song: Loved listening to this playlist while writing today.
Book/Newsletter:
Meal: Went for a long hike on Sunday, and we had an amazing Himachali dish - Bhaturu, which we had packed. Bhaturu is a traditional fermented bread. Along with the bread, we had chutney and soy chunks.
Film/Video: Stunning commentary on Science and Faith.
Photograph(s): Here are a few photographs from the Sunday Hike to Chenna Pass.
Read my other newsletters :
Why I Ran From Vipassana
The story of moving to the mountains
My relationship with failure
Photography, my first love
Read my short stories :
Socratree
Quenched
Chetak
Coronaceptive
Compilation of all recommendations :
Video recommendations
Music recommendations
Books read
Free Journaling eBook:
Last year, I compiled a journaling ebook for myself for times when I feel I have nothing to write. I am offering it to you for free. Whether you’re starting your journaling journey or feeling stuck in a creative block, this guide will help you find your way.
Download your journaling eBook here.
Thank you for reading my work
Enjoy reading your posts. Keep them coming. As a writer, I echo your words. Writing grounds you. It's a lot of hard work and writers know there's no romanticism in it. Just plain simple hard work.
Love the way you wrote. I've the same feeling about my writing schedule. Sometimes don't know what to write and yet that's what I must do to keep going.
Thanks